“We’re very excited to share the official 2015 release date for Star Wars: Episode VII, where it will not only anchor the popular holiday filmgoing season but also ensure our extraordinary filmmaking team has the time needed to deliver a sensational picture,” Alan Horn, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios, in a statement.

J.J. Abrams

The J.J. Abrams-helmed film will be the seventh feature in the series and first since Disney aquired LucasFilmfor $4.05 billion.

Shooting on the as-yet-untitled movie is scheduled to start at Pinewood Studios in spring of next year. The script by Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan (Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi) is rumoured to take place a generation after Episode VI, 1983’s Return of the Jedi.